Island



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' G; W. STAFFORD. .SHEDDING MEGHANISM'FOR LOOMS.

No. 516,169. Patented Mar. 6, 1894.

2 Sheets-Sheet; 2.

(.No Model.)

I G. W. STAFFORD. SHEDDING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

Patented Mar. 6, 1394.

n a o a o o o o o a a o a c o no UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

GEORGE W. STAFFORD, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

SHEDDING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 516,169, dated March 6, 1894.

Application filed October 2,1898. Serial No. 486,958- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. STAFFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shedding Mechanism for Looms, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention has reference to shedding mechanism of the class known as dobbies.

It relates, in particular, to the devices which are employed in dobbies for determining the engagement of the hooks with the reciprocating lifters, the said devices including the pattern cylinder and its operating connections.

It consists in certain novel and improved features of construction and combination, which will be described first with reference to the accompanying drawings, after which the invention will be more particularly pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a view mainly in side elevation, showing part of a dobby having the invention applied thereto, enough of the usual parts of the dobby being shown to make clear the connections, relations and mode of operation of the parts involved in the invention. Fig. 2, Sheet 2,is a view showing in plan certain of the parts which are shown in Fig. 1, the framing being in horizontal section on line 2, 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in section on the vertical line 3, 3 of Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a view in section on the vertical line 4, 4, in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view in section on line 5, 5 in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation, with part broken away, of a portion of one of the jacks, and a hook, showing the construction of the end of the jack and the connection of the hook therewith. Fig. 7, Sheet 1, is a view showing in side elevation one of the sprocket wheels employed in transmitting movement to the pattern cylinder.

At 1, in the drawings, is the framing of the dobby, at 2 is a harness-lever pivoted on the rod 3 secured in said framing, at 4 is a jack pivotally mounted on a projecting portion of the harness-lever, at 5 is a hook which is pivotally connected with the upper arm of the said jack, at 6 is a hook which is pivotally connected with the lower arm of the said jack,

at 7 is an upright needle on the upper end of which the upper book 5 rests, at 8 is a finger on the inner end of which thelower end of the needle 7rests, at 9 is another finger on-the upturned inner end of which the lower hook 6 rests, and at 10 is the rod on which the fingers 8 and 9 are pivotally mounted, the outer ends of the said fingers being made sufficiently heavy to over-balance the weight of the inner ends thereof and of the hooks and needle, as usual. The hooks 5 and 6 co-operate in the usual manner with reciprocating lifters, not shown, which engage the said hooks in their outgoing movements, when the said hooks are dropped into position for engagement, and move the hooks outward so as to cause the harness-lever to be swung and the harnessframe'raised, all in known manner. The free extremities of the Weighted portions of the fingersS, 9, play between upright pins 11, 11, fixed in a cross-bar 12, on which bar the said extremities rest normally and When-not raised by the action of the pattern cylinder. Beneath the said weighted portions of the fingers8, 9, is a second cross-bar 13, supported in brackets 14, 14 held to the main framing by bolts 15 passing through slots 16 which permit of vertical adjustment of the said brackets being effected when required. The cross-bar 13 has holes made through the same from top to bottom, and in the said holes are placed needles 17, there being one needle be- 8 5 neath every finger, and the lower ends of the said needles project below the under side of the cross-bar as shown clearly in Figs. 1, 3

and 4. r

Beneath the cross-bar 13 and its needles 17 c is located the pattern-cylinder 18, herein represented as consisting of a shaft 19 and notched heads 20, 20, around which pass the bars of a pattern-chain 21. The shaft 19 of the pattern-cylinder is journaled in the side- 5 frames 22, 22 fixed upon the cross-shaft 23, the latter being j ournaled in the main framing 1. The said pattern-cylinder thus is held in a movableframewhich iscapableof beingswung vertically in a manner to carry the said cylrco inder up into position to present the topmost bar of the pattern-chain against the downwardly projecting ends of the needles 17 such needles as do not have holes opposite them in the said topmost bar being pressed upward so asto raise also the overlying weighted ends of the fingers which occupy positions in the same Vertical planes with those needles, the said frame next being swung downward away from the needles to enable the pattern-cylinder to be advanced one step so as to present the next bar of the pattern-chain for action.

For the purpose of communicating to the carrying-frame for the pattern-cylinder the necessary movements positively in both directions, a shaft 24 is journaled in bearings in the side frames 22, 22, the said shaft having fixed thereon the grooved cams 25, 25. The grooves of the said cams receive studs 26 preferably equipped with anti-friction rollers 27 and fixed to the lower ends of the brackets 14. Thereby, asthe shaft 24 is rotated, the engagement of the grooved cams 25, 25 with the said studs and their rollers occasions the rising and falling movements of the swinging-frame and pattern-cylinder carried thereby.

For the purpose of rotating the patterncylinder intermittingly, a star-wheel 28 is fixed on one end of the shaft 19 of the pattern-cylinder, and a pin-wheel 29 is fixed on the corresponding end of the shaft 24, the said pin-wheel co-operating with the starwheel in known manner to communicate a step-by-step movement to the pattern-cylinder, and also to hold it locked while the pin of the pin-wheel is not engaged in one of the slots in the star-wheel.

For the purpose of rotating the shaft 24, a bevel-gear 30 is fixed on the other end of said shaft, and this bevel-gear is in engagement withthebevel-gear 31 on the adjacent end of the side-shaft32, which latter rotates in bearings 33, 33 provided on the adjacent side frame 22 of the swinging supporting frame of the pattern-cylinder, the said side shaft, like the cross shaft 24, being carried with the said swinging supporting frame in the movements of the latter.

In order to communicate rotation to the side shaft 32, it has fixed thereon a sprocketwheel 34 like the one shown in side elevation in Fig. 7, Sheetl of the drawings, this sprocketwheel being located in line, or approximately in line, with the shaft 23, and thereby being in, or approximately in, line with the axis on which the said supporting frame swings. This location of the sprocket wheel 34 on shaft 32 enables the shaft 32 to move with the swinging supporting frame without materially affecting the tension of the actuating sprocketchain 36, which passes around the said sprocket-wheel 34 and also the sprocket-wheel 37 on the actuating shaft 38. Each hook 5 and 6 is cast with a re-curved tail or inner end 51, see Fig. 6, the said re-curved portion preferably being tapered to a point, as shown in Fig. 6. Each end of the jack 4 is cast in the form indicated in Fig. 6, namely with two sides 41, 41, the pivot 42, and the connectingweb 43. The sides are spaced apart widely enough to receive between them the end of the hook, except where they are connected by the pivot and the connecting web, the pivot 42 being rounded so as to fit properly the concavity of the re-curved inner end of the hook, as indicated in Fig. 6, and the convexity of the said inner end of the hook be ing adapted to contact with the inner surface of the connecting-web 43. The hook is connected with the jack by first turning the hook downward sufficient to permit the point of the recurvedend to be passed down between the pivot 42 and the connecting-web 43, after which the hook is swung upward into its normal position, thereby carrying the point of the recurved inner end around and beneath the pivot. The hook and jack cannot become separated so long as the hook occupies its normal position, but, the hook may be disengaged with case from the jack after having its free end swung down as at first. The capacity for being conveniently and quickly disengaged and re-engaged, without the removal of the connected parts from the dobby first being requisite, is regarded as highly important in practice. The connecting-web 43 fills out the interval between the sides 41, 41 at one edge of the jack, and gives an unbroken, smooth wearing-surface for contact with the back stop 44.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with the pattern-cylinder, of a movable frame carrying the same, a shaft jou-rnaled in said frame and provided with means for moving the said frame to and fro, abevel-gear fixed on said shaft, aside-shaft mounted in bearings on the movable frame, a bevel-gear fixed to said side shaft and in engagement with the bevel-gear first mentioned, and means for rotating the side-shaft, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the pattern-cylinder, of a movable frame carrying the same a shaft journaled in said frame, a grooved cam mounted on said shaft, a fixed stud or piece entering the groove of said cam, a bevel-gear fixed on said shaft, a side shaft mounted in bearings on the movable frame,a bevel gear fixed to said side-shaft and in engagement with the bevel-gear first mentioned, and means for rotating the side-shaft, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the pattern-cylinder, and a star-wheel connected therewith, of a movable frame carrying the said patterncylinder, a shaft journaled in said frame, a pin-wheel on said shaft engaging the star wheel, a grooved cam mounted on said shaft, a fixed stud or piece entering the grooveof said cam, a bevel-gear fixed on said shaft, a sideshaft mountedin bearings on the movable frame, a bevel-gear fixed to said side shaft and in engagement withthe bevel-gear first mentioned, and means for rotating the side shaft, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the pattern cylinder, of a movable frame carrying the same, a

shaft journaled in said frame, a grooved cam mounted on said shaft, a fixed stud or piece entering the groove of said cam, a bevel-gear fixed on said shaft, a side shaft mounted in hearings on the movable frame, a bevel-gear fixed to said shaft and in engagement with the bevel-gear first mentioned, a sprocket- Wheel on said side-shaft, a sprocket chain passing around said sprocket wheel, a driving-shaft, and a sprocket wheel thereon 10 around which said sprocket chain passes also, substantially a described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEO. W. STAFFORD. Witnesses:

OnAs. F. RANDALL, ARTHUR F. RANDALL. 

